MSU to Name Munn Ice Surface for Ron Mason

The ice surface at Munn Ice Arena at Michigan State University will be named Ron Mason Rink after the legendary Spartan head coach. The dedication will be held on Oct. 7, before MSU's 2023-24 home opener against visiting Lake Superior State.

Mason, from Blyth, Ontario, guided the Spartans from 1979 to 2002, where he fashioned an overall record of 635-270-69. That mark included the 1986 NCAA crown, plus 10 CCHA tournament titles and eight CCHA regular-season championships. He also led MSU to 19 NCAA tournament appearances, including a streak of nine consecutive berths to close his career. The CCHA's Mason Cup, awarded to the league's tournament champion in both its original and current incarnations, is named after him.

Mason also coached at Lake Superior, where he won an NAIA title, and at Bowling Green before spending 23 seasons at MSU, where he coached 35 All-Americans, and 50 former Spartans who went on to play in the NHL. At the time of his retirement, he was NCAA hockey's all-time wins leader with 924 victories, having compiled an overall record of 924-380-83 (.696) over 36 seasons, including 10 campaigns of 30 or more wins. 

Following his coaching career, Mason spent six years as athletic director at MSU, and celebrated the 2007 NCAA title with the Spartans before retiring the following year. A member of the MSU Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and the 1992 AHCA national coach of the year, he passed away in June 2016 at the age of 76.

Munn Ice Arena, which seats 6,114 spectators, opened in 1974 as a hockey-only facility, and underwent a $26.7 million renovation over the last few years. The Spartans hosted an NCAA record 323-game regular-season sellout streak there from 1985 to 2004.

Goodbye, Joe Louis Arena

The final hockey game of any kind has been played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

The building’s primary tenant, the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, ended their run at the venerable facility on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils that closed out both the season, and an era. 

The Red Wings moved into The Joe in Dec. 1979 and left almost 38 years later with four Stanley Cup championships to their credit (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008), two of them earned on JLA ice (1997, 2002). Though Detroit’s 25-year playoff run ended this season, Hockeytown fans celebrated on Sunday like it was 1998, with the stands awash in a sea of red jerseys, and the obligatory traditional octopus cascading from the crowd and clumping on the ice after each and every goal by the home side.

Besides the NHL, The Joe was also a long-standing venue for college hockey, ranging from the 1990 NCAA Championship, to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and later Big Ten tournaments, to the long-running Great Lakes Invitational. In my two years (1994-1996) with Michigan State Hockey, I made it to the Joe over a dozen times for CCHA and GLI games, CCHA press conferences, and the now-defunct College Hockey Showcase. I even got to take a turn or two on the ice, hockey stick included.

The most modern facility in North America? Not at all—but there was something comforting about going up those long gray exterior stairs, walking the dark concourses replete with photos and other mementoes of Red Wings history, and gazing out upon two levels of seemingly endless red-and-white seats. There was also having a team credential to see the wood-paneled splendor and the major-league workings that existed behind the scenes. There wasn’t a bad seat in the 20,000-plus house, not even from a high-above-the-ice press box that was added as an afterthought.

I saw my only Red Wings game there as a fan in early 2000, a win over Tampa Bay, and that was the last time I ever made it to the building. I’ve seen Detroit play live in New Jersey several times in the last 17 years after I stopped living in Michigan, but never again at The Joe. This year’s closing is perhaps made even more poignant by the dual passing of hockey icon Gordie Howe and longtime Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, who both left us before the doors were closed for the final time, as did longtime MSU head coach Ron Mason last year.

I thought the quasi-hexagonal gray-and-red venue on the riverfront would stand the test of time and live forever, like Fenway Park and Lambeau Field—but like the Olympia and Tiger Stadium before it in the Motor City, time has unfortunately run out on The Joe. The memories, many as there are, however, will remain.

So long and farewell, Joe Louis Arena. And thanks.

Mason, Guerin, Weight and Curley Among 2013 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees

Four of the five inductees into the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minn. this year have strong ties to the college game.

Ron Mason (pictured) won 924 games between 1966 and 2002 as head coach with Lake Superior, Bowling Green and Michigan State, and retired as the NCAA's all-time winningest hockey coach. A former St. Lawrence forward, he also won an NAIA national title with LSSU in 1972 and an NCAA championship with MSU in 1986. He led BGSU to three CCHA titles and three NCAA Tournament berths, and then guided MSU to 10 CCHA crowns and 19 NCAA berths. He then went on to a nearly six-year stint as athletic director with the Spartans, and now serves as a senior advisor to the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Former Boston College forward Bill Guerin had 40 goals and 30 assists for 70 points with the Eagles from 1989 to 1990, and helped BC to a Hockey East title and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He then collected 429-427—856 points in 1,263 NHL games between 1992 and 2010 with the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, according to hockeydb.com. He added 39 goals in 74 points in 140 NHL playoff games, and won Stanley Cups with the Devils (1995) and Penguins (2009). A three-time U.S. Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006), he now works in the Pittsburgh organziation as player development coach.

Former Lake Superior State forward Doug Weight collected 50-94—144 points in two campaigns with the Lakers, while helping them to two NCAA berths and a CCHA championship. He then notched 278-755—1,033 points in 1,238 NHL outings with the New York Rangers, Edmonton, St. Louis, Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks and the Islanders from 1991 to 2011. He added 23 goals and 72 points in 97 NHL playoff contests, and won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006. A teammate of Guerin's with Edmonton, the Islanders and the U.S. Olympic Team, he now serves as an assistant coach and a special assistant to the general manager with the Islanders.

Cindy Curley starred at Providence College from 1981 to 1985, where she tallied 110-115—225 points with the Lady Friars. She ranks among PC's top five in all three categories, according to Providence's 2012-13 media guide, and also played in three IIHF World Championships with the U.S., including the inaugural women's tournament in 1990. She has since worked in a number of administrative capacities with USA Hockey.

The fifth and final inductee this year is Peter Karmanos, Jr., owner of the NHL's Hurricanes and OHL's Plymouth Whalers, who has also long sponsored the Compuware youth hockey organization in Michigan.

More on each of the inductees can be found here on the USA Hockey site.

York Now All-Time Winningest College Coach

Boston College men's hockey head coach and alumnus Jerry York earned his 925th career victory today in the Eagles' 5-2 win over Alabama-Huntsville in the first round of the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis.

The win puts him one victory ahead of Ron Mason, who compiled 924 career wins with Lake Superior, Bowling Green and Michigan State from 1966 to 2002. York, who also coached at Bowling Green and led the Falcons to the 1984 NCAA title, began his coaching career at Clarkson and later returned to his alma mater in 1994. He has since guided BC to four national championships (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012).

York will lead the Eagles, currently ranked No. 1 in the Division I ranks,  against Mariucci host Minnesota on Saturday. The Golden Gophers defeated Air Force, 4-0, on Saturday.

York Just One Win Away from History

One more win.

That's all it will take for Boston College head coach Jerry York, who has already led the Eagles to four national titles, to become the winningest coach in the history of college hockey. York is currently tied with former Michigan State legend Ron Mason, now retired 10 years from his last game, with 924 wins. York can reach 925 victories on Friday with a win at Providence.

It would have been nice if the Eagles could have swept rival Boston University last weekend so that York could have broken the mark on Saturday at home - but following a Friday road loss, at least he got to tie the record at BC's Conte Forum.

York, a 1967 BC graduate, All-American, and three-year hockey letterman, is in his 41st college coaching campaign, following previous stints with Clarkson and Bowling Green. He also won a national championship at BGSU in 1984. Ten years later, he was back home at the Heights, and after three non-descript seasons, has been rolling almost ever since.

According to USCHO.com, York is 924-559-94 so far for his career, including a 457-224-60 mark in 19 seasons at his alma mater. Since taking the reins at BC in 1994, he's led the Eagles to 15 NCAA tournament berths, 13 Frozen Four appearances, eight national title games, and four NCAA crowns, including last spring in Tampa.

All he needs now, for right now, is just one more win to stake his claim as the best of all time; and then, like Mason before him, he'll just keep adding to his legendary total with each additional victory.

Not bad for a kid from Watertown, Mass.

ADDENDUM (12/07): Providence tied BC, 3-3, on a goal with less than 11 seconds remaining in regulation time. York's next chance for No. 925 will come on Dec. 29 when the Eagles face Alabama-Huntsville in the first round of the Mariucci Clasic in Minneapolis.